Chasing Gaara, part 1


Miyo

I wandered in as Lady Tsunade tried to give Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei a C-ranked mission. Lady Tsunade spared me a glance, and I waved my sleeve at her. Ignore me, Lady Hokage.

An eyebrow cock was my only answer, and then she returned her attention to Naruto.

Then a cipher ninja ran in with the message from the Sand Village. Lady Tsunade did a fabulous job of acting like this was the first she'd heard of it.

"Team Kakashi, I'm assigning you a new mission: I want you to go to the Sand Village. You need to find out what's going on immediately and keep me informed. You're to remain there and follow their orders. Give them any backup they need. Miyo will accompany you."

Naruto had been looking excited up until she said that. "Huh? Sis? But why?"

I decided it was time I made my presence known. "I volunteered, Naruto. I got word of this problem last night, and I told Lady Tsunade as soon as I heard. She decided to wait on sending anyone out until help was officially asked, just because the way I found out was…unorthodox."

"I see," Kakashi-sensei remarked. "Well, in that case, welcome to Team Kakashi, Miyo."


Soon we were off, after Master Jiraiya had a word with Naruto about something. I'd ended up taking the lead, simply because I'd been there and back before.

"Sis, why are you so keen to get back to the Sand Village anyway? You just got back from there!"

"Like I told Lady Tsunade…um, you know how I tend to have nightmares when I'm not near you?"

"Um, yeah?..."

"Wait," Sakura interrupted, "Naruto helps you ward off nightmares?"

"I know it doesn't make sense, but that's the way it is. My little doll of Naruto usually works when he's off on a mission, but…while I was training in the Sand Village and Naruto was off training with Master Jiraiya, I ended up…going into something like withdrawal. I'm used to a certain amount of contact from the real Naruto."

"Whoa. Sorry about that, Miyo."

"It's not your fault, Naruto. In fact, my being at the Sand Village while you were training helped me. See, I think it's your energy that kept the nightmares away…and Gaara's energy signature is very similar to yours."

"So Gaara kept nightmares away for you?"

Sakura looked a little uncertain. "I'd almost expect Gaara to cause nightmares, not prevent them."

"As long as he periodically made contact with me, the nightmares stayed away. He saved my life, and it's only fair that I save his."

Naruto grinned. "I get it! So you wanted to return the favor!"

I nodded.

"Well then, let's hurry!"

We intercepted Temari and told her about Gaara. She joined us on our way there.


That night, Naruto told Sakura and Temari why the Akatski were after him and Gaara. I knew this story, but I suspected that this was a first for Sakura. Well, good; she'd get to understand Naruto better.

Temari seemed to understand better, too.

Sakura was definitely keen on finding Sasuke. It set both her and Naruto on the same level of determination.

Thinking about it, a lot of us had something to do in this mission. Naruto wanted to save Gaara, because of everything that had happened to the other ninja in his life. Sakura wanted to find the Akatski because it would be a chain: find the Akatski, get information about Orochimaru, save Sasuke. Temari…this was her brother we were talking about. And of course, I owed Gaara my life. The only person coming along who didn't have a personal stake in this mission was Kakashi-sensei, and I doubted he set anything personal in any of his missions.


We reached the desert, and Temari took the lead. I was feeling strangely perky after two days of nearly no rest.

Suddenly, I felt a serious tremor in my left sleeve! "Wha – " I fished down with a thread and pulled out the shaking doll.

It was Little Gaara. He was trembling in my hand so badly that it was as if he was on vibrate!

Gaara…are you actually conscious?

Little Gaara seemed to come to himself again just long enough to shake his head. Then he started shuddering again, harder than ever if that was even possible.

I clutched him to my chest. Don't worry, Gaara. We're coming.


Neji

Almost as soon as we returned to the Leaf Village, Lady Tsunade sent us out to give Team Kakashi backup.

"I haven't seen Naruto or Miyo in some time. I wonder how they have changed."


Miyo

We ended up holing up in a cave to avoid a sandstorm. Naruto was still wanting to move, but Temari and I both informed him that traveling in a sandstorm was a zero-sub move in the extreme. I settled back to try to take a nap, but Little Gaara's shaking had me worried. There was no way I was mentioning that to Naruto, though; he'd just try to go haring off again.


Finally, we made it. And we were told that Kankuro had been poisoned! Sakura said she'd take a look at him. I wasn't expecting an old lady to go rushing at Kakashi-sensei as soon as we entered the hospital wing, though!

I was just glad someone talked sense into her. And finally, we were able to help Kankuro. Everyone who wasn't a medical ninja cleared out of the room…well, Temari and I stayed.

"Kankuro looks different without his makeup," I remarked to myself, studying Mini Kankuro.

"May I hold that?" Temari held her hand out to me. Recognizing that she needed reassurance, I used a thread to drop the little doll into her hand, and she clutched it to her chest just as I had with Little Gaara earlier.

I kept half an eye on the old lady, not sure what she was going to do. She didn't seem to like Leaf ninja much.

Sakura managed to extract most of the poison from Kankuro's body – that was definitely impreeive – while I kept his feet tied down with my threads. As she called all the shots, the old lady seemed to be taking a lot of reality checks.


Then I heard that Team Guy was coming to back us up. I tried to keep my mind on the job, but I was desperate to see Neji. I wondered how much he had changed…and what he'd been about to say to me two years ago.

When Kankuro regained consciousness, we went in to see him. He asked for his puppets, which I gathered meant he had a way for us to follow the Akatski.

Called it – one of his puppets had gotten a scrap of his opponent's clothing. I straightened. "And if two are tracking, it leaves less chance of getting thrown off-track! I can't claim to have a nose for tracking, but my dolls can easily track Gaara!"

Kankuro turned to look at me. "Miyo…thank you."

Kakashi-sensei's dogs ran off to find a scent. Then the old lady came back – Lady Chiyo was her name – and she asked Kankuro for some info. Apparently, the guy he'd fought was named Sasori.


That night, Sakura gave Kankuro her antidote for the poison still in him, and we were offered rooms for the night.

"Naruto…" Kankuro suddenly said, so quiet it was hard to hear him, "save my little brother…will you?"

"Sure I will. After all, I'm gonna be Hokage someday, and for now, the Kazekage can just owe me one!"

I left the room to find my own room.

"You're going to be okay tonight, right sis?"

"Of course, Naruto. I'll be fine."

I stepped into my room and shut the door. Then I set Little Gaara down on the desk and got ready for the night. Suddenly, I heard a strange, high-pitched sound: a thin, strangled wail. As I got into bed and settled Little Naruto on the pillow next to me, I couldn't shake the feeling that that sound…

…Was Little Gaara in pain.

If Gaara dies…what will happen to the doll?